Tree redo

Some of the smaller trees in my side yard and a couple near the driveway were taken down before the roofers came. I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but it looks way different now. Lots of gardening opportunities have opened up. Thinking of camellias, but haven't decided on the color yet.

New ceiling

And a new much brighter light fixture! The drywall guys did it in one day! Of course, I've cleaned up in the sewing room since this photo was taken. It's so nice to be in there now.

My She Shed

I've been so happy living in this sweet old house for all these last few years. The neighborhood is really coming up, with the Sears building transformed into the Crosstown Concourse, mainly. Great eateries, YMCA, and the Crosstown Brewing Company, all a ten minute walk away!! My neighbors are the best, too!
   It did cross my mind for half a second to move, since property values are good right now, but the thought of finding another house in this area, sorting through all my shit, packing it, hauling it somewhere else, unpacking it......well...that seemed like less of a good idea. Then there was the partial ceiling collapse in my sewing room that reinforced the whole sorting packing horror story in my mind. If one room was that bad, doing that with an entire house would put me in the loony bin!
   New drywall on the ceiling has been installed and it's so nice, I decided to fix up other things.
    Like the roof! The last roof was put on at least 20 years ago, and was the third layer. Yes, there was a complete tear off. But it's been so worth it and it only took two and a half days.

Another photo

This photograph of the beach is another possible candidate for interpretation to enter into the upcoming show. 

And it begins....

With a photo. This picture is from my visit to Dauphin Island last winter. It was such a relaxing weekend with my friend, Frederique. We were completely enamored of the environment and the solitude. Everyday we walked, a total of 21 plus miles over three days, according to Fitbit.
  We went from one end of the island to the other, even though it was breezy and cold most of the time. The foggiest morning was the best, like walking in a bubble. We both took many photos. Frederique had her very nice camera and has so many lovely shots of birds, dead things, trees, the gulf waters, etc.
 I forgot my little point and shoot, and had to rely on the Iphone camera, Since I wasn't sure of storage issues, I had to be a bit more judicious in my decisions of what to photograph, not just snapping pics of any old thing, like I usually do.
  I'm very happy with what I captured and have started on several pieces of artwork based on the photos. In future posts, I hope to show the progress I'm making and maybe inspire someone else to record your adventure in another way than vacation photos.

WKNO show

hand stitching on linen

The TNCraft-Southwest show at the WKNO gallery closed last week. When I went to pick up my artwork I discovered one of my pieces had sold!! YAY! I have no idea who loved this as much as I do, and want to thank you for choosing my work to be in your home or office or wherever......
  Plus, I couldn't be happier to have a few extra bucks to help pay for new eyeglasses, since I lost my fave bifocals at a punk rock show last week. I've finally stopped beating myself up for losing them. It's as if they VANISHED into thin air and maybe fell off my head into the toilet in ladies room. I don't know....I'm usually very careful keeping up with my stuff.

My yard

The top two photos are before and after views of part of the side yard.....I think it's been much improved. The other photo is just to the side, in the same area. It's next to the driveway and I see it everyday. I feel much better now when I pull in and am happy to be home.
    Of course, there's still lots to be done to spruce up other garden beds, but right now I'm focusing on small areas and trying not to look at the overall mess.

A Gift

Since February, I've been spending a lot of my time in creative endeavors, most of it sewing in one form or another. Coming up in June, some of my artwork will be in a group show. It's exciting to have work shown, but I wish I'd had time to make something new....and I wish I had the time to play in my yard everyday and scrub this hovel to a higher standard that I really should subscribe to...dream on.
 Since I love my artwork, I'm good with the pieces I'm entering in the show. They are pieces I look at everyday and make me happy that I made them.
  I'm starting to feel the same way with my yard. I have found it to be another creative outlet and I see it everyday, so it's always on my mind. The physical activity required to make any patch of dirt look like art is not much more than any other medium. So, I'm happily digging when I can, usually early in the day. I do live in Memphis.
  Life is maybe the best gift a person could get, I'm glad I got mine and the gift of patience to go with it. I just want to get a gift of time.
 

Lemme explain

There was no writing in the last post, mainly because I was so sad at the demise of my trusty Elna sewing machine. It's been with me since the early 80's and saw me through many projects. It was especially useful for all the heirloom sewing I've done these many years.
  Right in the middle of one of the many graduation dresses I'm working on this season, it decided it was too tired to continue. The thread kept breaking. It was very frustrating and I would have panicked, but a several years ago, I ran across another Elna, that was maybe a year or two older than the recently deceased model. I had the intention of using it for replacement parts if my beloved machine ever needed repairs. It was similar to parents having another child for transplant parts for the older child with a serious disease.
   Since there is no time in my schedule to stop for repairs, I plugged in the spare machine and realized it sewed beautifully. And quietly, with no skipped stitches, no balled up thread on the underside of seams!!! YAY!!!
So, all is well in the workroom now, well.....it will be when I get over this awful cold that has had me confined to my bed for the last several days. I had been SOOO careful all winter, avoiding crowds and sick people when the flu was going around, because I knew if I came down with anything it would be BAD!
   Then BOOM I woke up with a scratchy throat last Wednesday, told myself it was spring allergies (which I never have) soldiered on till I went to bed, totally exhausted. Aches and pains kept me from a good night's sleep, then a headache accompanied by rising fever. My temperature reached over 103 and I got out the ice pack.
  Now it's Monday, I'm still fatigued and very disappointed that I had to miss the opening reception of the TNCraft-Southwest Collaborations show yesterday. But so many friends were concerned and offered to bring food and beverage. I'm a lucky person to have such kind caring people in my life...

Sacred Tree

Bug Book

RIP

Spring has sprung, maybe....

After the recent string of seasons we've had in Memphis, spring might be here for a while. Jonquils are coming up, as well as the foliage of the naked ladies. Forsythia is blooming, spirea too. My dad called it bridal bouquet. I love the tiny white flowers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for blooms on the little dogwood tree and a better showing from the flowering quince.

New Year with new weather

It's only two weeks into 2018, and we've had at least three seasons it seems! Cold (12 degrees), not so cold (70), now snow and ice (ugh, no NYT delivery).....at least not being able to get out and about has given me a good excuse to blog.
  There's lots of sewing to do, too. Graduation dresses are in the works. Carnival suit is in progress. For Christmas gifts (as yet, undelivered) I made several microwave bowl cozies. I love mine so much I found directions on Youtube--Thank you, Karen--then dug through my resource center for coordinating fabrics and batting, and whipped them out. And I have received the parts from collaborating artist, Catherine Stevens, to create the pieces for the show in April. That is VERY exciting and I will post more on that later.
  Since I've got an early start on the dresses and suits, I will have time to work in the garden before the REAL summer season begins. Who knows when that humidity bomb will drop??!!!